


Three Part Harmony

by Curlscat



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Light Angst, M/M, like really light
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-13 22:06:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11769339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Curlscat/pseuds/Curlscat
Summary: Everyone knows about duets, but some songs are just better with a third singer, to stabilize things. Shiro, Keith, and Lance are no different.





	Three Part Harmony

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally going to be a really long slow burn with chapter titles named after musical things but then I forgot about it and when I found it I figured I might as well just give it some kind of ending and post it instead of leaving it in my drafts with everything else I'm never going to finish. Enjoy!

Shiro first realizes what he feels for Lance during a very weird incident in which Lance, Pidge, and Allura are all hit with some kind of temporary retrograde amnesia.

They’re safely inside the ship again, mostly because Hunk is very good at sounding reasonable, and Lance, who has spent most of the trip glued to Hunk’s side, whispering urgent questions into his ear, turns to Shiro and says, “So we. Like. Work together? You and me? We’re on the same team?”

“Yeah,” Shiro says, giving him a small smile. “Have for a while.”

“Dude that is so freaking cool!” Lance says, his face lighting up. “I mean, Hunk said, but honestly he could have said anything and I’d never have known and-- you’re like, you’re my hero, man! You’re-- do you know how amazing you are? And-- you got captured by aliens? And escaped? I mean, more than being the best pilot the Garrison ever produced, that’s just--” Lance devolves into shrieks that are mostly unintelligible, waving his hands around.

Keith winces. Hunk is looking at his best friend fondly. Shiro is almost definitely blushing because what.

Pidge, meanwhile, has left off glaring suspiciously at everyone and switched to fiddling with Shiro’s arm, which is a distraction Shiro is grateful for.

“None of that,” he says, lifting his arm out of Pidge’s reach. “I need this.”

“I’m not gonna take it,” Pidge pouts. “I just wanna see how it works.”

“Later,” Shiro promises. He remembers how badly Pidge’s first attempt to mess with his arm went, and he’s in no hurry to repeat the experience, especially if Pidge is going to remember everything in a few hours.

Lance is still fangirling over Shiro. It’s… well, aside from being the most embarrassing thing ever, it’s adorable. And overwhelming. Lance is a fountain of energy, and having so much of that focused on Shiro is not something he’s used to. Lance grins at Shiro, big and bright and a little crooked, and Shiro’s heart melts and--

Oh no.

No.

No no nononono no.

Because Shiro has been here before, and it’s not going to end well. He knows that. Lance is, what, eighteen? Nineteen at a stretch. Shiro’s not going to go there. And if he even lets Lance know that he’s thought about going there, it’s going to end the same way things with Keith did, with over a year of awkward, stilted, loaded friendship that they were both walking a tightrope on because Keith was sixteen when he met Shiro and sure Shiro didn’t know that but he should have figured it out because he’s older and he kissed a sixteen year old kid what kind of terrible person does that? And there’s nowhere to run in space. So Shiro is going to ignore these feelings the same way he ignores the little niggling reminder that Keith is older now because he’s not some kind of pervert who sits around waiting for someone to be legal.

But good lord is Lance pretty.

* * *

  
Ignoring the feelings turns out to be harder than anticipated.

They’ve probably been there for a while, unfortunately. Which means they’re not going away anytime soon. And they’re tied up in all the regular old fondness Shiro has for Lance that he also has for Pidge and Allura and Hunk and Coran. Lance is a bright spot of energy and noise in a world that, for Shiro at least, is really, really dark.  

And when he comes up to Shiro after he has his memory back, he’s so sheepish that it makes Shiro melt a little.

“So, uh, that… earlier, that was not cool of me,” Lance says, looking at Shiro askance.

“What?” Shiro asks, because he’s honestly not expecting Lance to be sorry. He’s not sure he’s heard Lance apologize in the entire time he’s known him. And really, what’s he sorry about?

“I shouldn’t have put you on the spot like that,” Lance says. “You were cool about it, but it was… I know how rough the whole ‘captured by the Galra’ thing must’ve been, and treating like it was just some… feat of courage, or something, was pretty insensitive of me.”

“You didn’t know,” Shiro says.

“Yeah, well, I remember now, and I’m sorry,” Lance says, rubbing his arm in discomfort, shoulders hunched in on himself. “So… yeah.”

“It’s fine.”

Lance doesn’t look sure, and sad is a very bad look on Lance. Shiro puts a hand on his shoulder-- what? He touches Pidge and Hunk all the time! This is a purely platonic supportive shoulder touch.

“Lance,” he says.

Lance looks at him straight on for the first time, still tense.

“I’m not upset, I promise.” He smiles. “But thank you.”

Now Lance looks confused. “You’re… welcome? What did I do?”

Shiro finds that he doesn’t really have the words. You were genuine. You thought about me. You respected how hard it was. You’re here. “You’re trying,” is what he settles on.

Lance gives him another of his bright grins, though it still has an edge of confusion as he wanders off.

Fuck is he cute. Shiro is screwed.

* * *

  
Shiro’s sudden awareness of his awareness of Lance is what clues him in on Keith’s feelings.

It should have been obvious, all things considered. Anyone else acting like Lance around Keith would have gotten very much on Keith’s bad side. He has a low tolerance for frivolity. But now it’s everywhere. Soft smiles, sideways glances, the works. Keith has it bad.

It would be absolutely adorable and hilarious if Shiro wasn’t in the same boat. As it is, he sympathizes.

* * *

  
Lance is a fucking asshole, and Keith hates him. He’s definitely not imagining that every time he makes a hit in the training simulation, it’s Lance that he’s hitting, though. That would be immature. And Keith is far more mature than some people he could mention.

When he beats the level and the simulation shuts down, he’s left panting in the big empty room, chest heaving as his bayard collapses out of sword form.

“Wanna talk about it?” Shiro’s voice startles Keith, and he jumps a little, heart thudding a little faster in his chest.

“I’m fine.” Keith says, glaring at Shiro over his shoulder.

“Uh-huh,” Shiro says, crossed arms and raised eyebrows showing just how much he believes Keith.

Keith glares at Shiro, refusing to be sidetracked by how hot Shiro looks with his face like that. Or to let Shiro win, because Keith is not so bothered by Lance’s stupidity that it’s affecting his cool.

All right, he is, but he’s working on it, okay?

And he’s not gonna tell Shiro that what’s upsetting him is Lance. Lance and his stupid, immature inability to stop flirting with native life-forms for ten seconds while they’re trying to pick up spare parts.

Shiro’s just looking at him. Waiting.

Keith breaks. He explains about the stupid mission and stupid Lance and the stupid gigantic alien guy that (okay he was pretty hot but still it was not the time!) Lance would not stop hitting on instead of helping. “I don’t even know why I’m so pissed,” he finishes. “It’s not like Lance doesn’t do this all the time. It’s just-- sometimes I wanna punch him right in his stupid perky nose.” Keith clenches his fist and works hard to keep his face from screwing up in a way that he has on good authority is adorable. He doesn’t want to be adorable. He’s angry.

Shiro’s doing that thing where he doesn’t smile, exactly, but he looks like he wants to.

… Keith’s face is probably doing the thing.

“What?” he demands.

“Nothing,” Shiro says, in a very not-nothing way.

Keith glares at him.

“You like him a lot, huh?” Shiro asks.

“What?” Keith says because-- what?

“Never mind,” Shiro says. “Did you wanna fight against an actual person, or are you done?”

“I’m about done,” Keith says, though he’d be happy to beat up on robots more.

Shiro shrugs and says, “All right, well I’m gonna take a stab at it, so…”

“Yeah,” Keith says. “I’m gonna--” he jerks his thumb at the door.

Things have got that awkward tension between them again, now. It pops up once in awhile, where neither knows what to say and they don’t break eye contact, and neither of them will admit they’re thinking about the same thing because they don’t talk about that and it’s supposed to be over.

Keith scooches away, unable to stop looking at Shiro until he finally makes it out the door.

What was Shiro talking about? He doesn’t like Lance. Not the way Shiro meant, anyway. Liking is-- liking is what he feels for Shiro. He doesn’t make eye contact with Lance and feel something spark inside. Lance is loud, and frustrating, and weird, and sure they work well together when Lance gets his head out of his ass, but that’s not often, and it’s not liking.

Besides, Lance obviously hates Keith for some reason, so that’s the end of it.

* * *

  
Except for how now Keith can’t stop thinking about it. About Lance. About liking Lance. Because Lance is… well, he’s gorgeous, in a skinny kind of way, with his eyes and his nose that shouldn’t be attractive (it points up. That’s just-- you can see his nostrils! That should not be cute! It’s not fair!) and his perfect glowy skin and that smile that should be illegal (and he wears it all the time). And the way he’s always moving, and when he talks his whole body gets involved, and he wears his emotions right up on the surface.

Keith might… have a little case of the feelings for this guy.

Dammit.

* * *

  
Lance has decided he’s okay with his enormous crushes on half of team voltron. Really. He’s cool with it. It’s been ages, so he’d better be, after all. He’s not gonna pretend he doesn’t still play it off like he’s just jealous of Keith and in awe of Shiro, but he’s. He’s come to terms with it. Mostly.

It’s gotten worse since Keith and Shiro started not-quite-almost-dating. So much worse. It would be easier if they were really actually dating, because then Lance could comfort himself with the knowledge that they were off the market, and go back to having Allura shoot him down.

But no, they’re just… in limbo. Shiro looks at Keith when Keith isn’t looking, and it’s like he’s looking at the most beautiful thing in the universe. Keith practically salivates over Shiro while Shiro isn’t paying attention.

Lance notices because he’s busy also salivating at them and/or looking at them like they hung the moon. Moons.

But Shiro has informed Lance firmly that he and Keith are Not Dating. They just whisper together in the halls and stop talking when Lance walks by, and brush hands now and again.

And invite Lance along to chaperone them a lot.

Like, a lot a lot. Lance has been invited on eight not-dates, so far. And calling it “invited” is a bit of a stretch. If he says no, Keith looks at him firmly and says, “You’re coming,” and that’s that. Lance wants to give them their space. Let them work out their not-dating thing until it is dating, and then leave him to nurse his broken heart in peace. But nooo, he has to come too.

“What are you muttering to yourself about?” Shiro asks over the headset.

This current not-date is actually a mission, technically. It’s a recon mission, which means it should go pretty easily, if they can find the guy they’re looking for. Girl they’re looking for. Entity. Whichever. He maybe wasn’t paying the most attention during the brief because he wasn’t expecting to be going.

“Nothing,” Lance answers.

“Keep quiet,” Keith hisses. “We’re trying to go unnoticed.”

Dang, that whole “heading voltron sometimes” thing has really gone to Keith’s head. Lance rolls his eyes and says, “there is literally no one else in this cave. At all. I could sing la bamba at the top of my lungs and it wouldn’t make any difference if I danced, too.”

“Well there are people in my cave so if you could keep your voice down--”

Lance rolls his eyes again and turns off his microphone. Just to prove a point, he does start singing softly as he goes along.

“Para bailar la bamba se necesita un poco de grazi-- huh?”

Something has moved in his cave.

“Hello?” Lance calls.

A tiny creature pokes its head out from around a rock. It looks like a cross between a sugar glider and a teddy bear, and Lance gets an immediate desire to adopt it.

“Hey little buddy,” Lance says, approaching slowly. “What are you doing out here all alone?”

The creature darts back around the rock. Lance stops. “I’m looking for someone,” he tells it. “Maybe you can help me find them?”

After a few minutes, the creature pokes its head back out. Lance squats down and reaches out a hand, and begins the process of coaxing the little guy to meet him. And Pidge says he can’t be patient.

He’s just gotten the alien (who he’s named Carl) close enough to sniff his hand when there’s a very loud noise and the ground starts shaking.

Shiro’s voice comes through the headset: “Guys, I’ve been compromised.”

“Copy,” Keith says. “On my way to you.”

Lance turns his headset back on and says, “Shiro what did you do?”

“I woke up a very large monster,” Shiro says.

“It’s gonna bring down the whole mountain!” Lance shouts, running back the way he came.

“Not our problem right now!” That’s Keith for you. Who cares about Carl’s home?

And Carl is frozen in terror, which is not a good thing. Lance stops, runs back, scoops up the little guy, and hauls ass back for the entrance to the cave. He’d be running a lot faster if the ground would stop moving. And if the ceiling wouldn’t throw rocks at him. And--

* * *

  
Ow.

Ow ow ow ow.

“Lance?” Shiro’s voice, right? That’s what that is.

Lance lets out a low groan.

“Thank God,” Shiro says.

Lance opens his eyes.

“Hey,” Keith says, smirking at Lance. “Left all the fighting to the rest of us while you went to make friends, I see.”

Lance would like to make a comeback, but his head hurts entirely too much. And he can’t quite focus his eyes. But… friends?

“Carl?”

“You named him?” Shiro asks.

“He’s okay?”

There’s a soft chittering noise, and something fuzzy appears in Lance’s vision. Good. Carl is okay. Good.

Lance would like to go back to sleep.

“None of that,” Shiro says, and he smacks Lance’s face lightly.

Lance gives Shiro a wounded look.

“You’ve got a concussion,” Shiro says. “If you go back to sleep, you might not wake up.”

This is about when he realizes he’s lying across Keith’s lap. He definitely blushes, but he’s hoping they’ll chalk that up to the head injury.

“I can’t believe you got taken out by a rock,” Keith mutters.

Lance reaches to give Keith a shove and misses.

“Come on,” Shiro says, lifting Lance under the arms. “Let’s get you back home.”

“Home is an awful long way off,” Lance mutters. “Be nice to go, though. See my mom.”

Lance can’t focus on their faces for more than a few seconds, but Keith and Shiro look stricken. Oh. Shiro meant the castle. Whoops.

Lance fades in and out through the trek back. Shiro is carrying him, and Keith seems to be on keep-Lance-awake duty, because every now and then he snaps his fingers in Lance’s face, or says something. All Lance is really aware of is that Shiro is jostling him a lot, and Carl is still with them.

Shiro and Keith work together really well. They handled everything fine. And Lance just screwed up again. Yay. No wonder neither of them have ever looked twice at him. They’re perfect for each other. Both just… amazing. Too good for him.

“I thought you were sharpshooter extraordinaire,” Keith says.

“Well, obviously,” Lance slurs.

“Then who could be too good for you, the great Lance McClain?” this time it’s Shiro speaking.

Lance is pretty sure some part of this conversation should bother him, but he’s not entirely positive which bit it is.

“Well, you’re dating, so what does it matter?” Lance points out. This seems like a very good argument as far as he’s concerned.

“Who says we couldn’t all three date?” Shiro asks.

“I-- um…” Lance can’t form a coherent response to this. “Nobody?”

Lance should be having a lot of emotions right now, he really should. But he’s not sure how they got where they are, and he sort of wonders if he’s just imagining this.

He’s so unaware of everything that’s going on from that point on, it’s totally possible.

* * *

  
Lance wakes up in a healing pod and dios mio this is getting old but he feels much better. So much better he actually just… walks out of the pod like a normal person, instead of flopping all over everyone. Keith and Shiro are there. Lance grins at them, and Keith blushes and--

That conversation really happened, didn’t it?

Oh. Oh no.

Lance turns scarlet and considers heading straight back into the healing pod and not coming out for a few hundred years.

“Welcome back,” Shiro says with a soft grin, and Lance pretty much melts. “It’s the hero of the mission!”

“The what now?” Lance asks.

“Your buddy. The bear. He was the contact we were looking for.”

Well that sure is convenient. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope.” Shiro grins again. “And since you saved his life, he’s been very helpful.”

The three of them stand in silence for a few minutes, and the tension grows. Lance wishes Pidge or Hunk or Coran was here. Or anyone, really. Just to break the tension.

“All right,” Keith says finally. “This is getting ridiculous. Someone say something.”

“I’m sorry if I screwed up your relationship or made things weird I promise I’ll never mention it again and--” Lance starts.

He’s ready to keep going, but Keith kisses him.

Lance’s eyes go wide, and then he sort of melts into the kiss, before he realizes Shiro is right there and Keith and Shiro are a thing kind of even if there’s this weird stuff where Shiro says he wants to take it slow because he’s older than Keith but they’re still an item and Shiro is watching Keith kiss lance and Lance opens his eyes again to stare at Shiro, pulling desperately back from Keith-- or trying to, since Keith doesn’t want to go.

Shiro is grinning, and much much closer than he was a minute ago.

Lance pulls back harder, breaking contact with Keith’s lips. “What-- but you-- you two-- I don’t--”

Shiro bursts out laughing.

Keith rolls his eyes. “This was easier when you were concussed.”

“The-- all three of us?” Lance asks, bewildered. “You both-- you like me?”

Shiro is still laughing.

“Duh,” Keith says. “Why do you think we kept dragging you everywhere?”

“I thought it was because you were doing your whole ‘we’re not really dating we’re just good friends with lots of sexual tension’ thing,” Lance says. “I thought I was your chaperone.”

Shiro, whose laughter had died down, bursts into another peal of laughter.

Keith throws his hands in the air and says, “You’re the most idiotic smart person I’ve ever met.”

“You think I’m smart?” Lance asks with a grin.

Keith just glares.

“So… how did you two reach this decision?” Lance asks.

Shiro stops laughing long enough to sit on the floor and say, “When Keith finally got his head out of his butt enough to admit he liked you, he talked to me about it. And I… let slip that I feel the same. And we… have history, and we admitted that we weren’t going to get over that anytime soon. This seemed simplest.”

“‘Simple’ would have been making out with him the day we talked about it,” Keith mutters. “Not this dancing around it nonsense.”

Lance is still trying to wrap his brain around the fact that both Keith and Shiro… like him back. Want to date him. And each other. They want to… all three of them…

Cool.

He’s grinning an enormous grin of his own, and he could honestly probably do anything right about now. Everything is amazing. Lance is in love, and he’s the happiest person on the planet. He could sing.

“So will you?” Shiro asks. “Date us?”

“Of course,” Lance says.

Shiro’s standing in a second, and he’s pulled Lance and Keith into a very tight hug. He kisses them, one after another, over and over again. Lance starts laughing. He doesn’t know how well this is going to work in the long run, but he doesn’t care. All he knows is that the three of them are going to be perfect together.


End file.
